Articulated vehicles, such as tractor-trailer trucks, are very difficult to maneuver, particularly when it is desired to load or unload them such as at a loading dock. Docking the articulated vehicle involves maneuvering the vehicle in a rearward direction such that the back of the vehicle is positioned within inches of and parallel to a front of the loading dock.
Existing automated systems for guiding vehicles rely on sensors and equipment that are located on the vehicle. Other systems utilize a model-free (e.g., a fuzzy logic) control approach, and are designed for passenger vehicles (e.g., non-articulated vehicles), or are designed for path-following instead of parking-like maneuvers. Such path-following systems typically generate a reference path, calculate steering corrections and then implement these corrections to cause motion toward the path. These systems are not suitable for guiding articulated vehicles in parking-like or docking maneuvers.